Device for smokers&#39; pipes



March 9, 1943. E, 1 J ACQB 2,313,343

DEVICEvFOR SMOKERS PIPES Filed Jan. 22, 1941 INVENTOR= a Patented Mar. 9, 1943:

Y l-)EVICE FOR SMOKERS PIPES J Ezekiel J. Jacob,v New York, N. Y., assignor to Benjamin Liebowitz, New York,`N. Y.

Application Januar/y 22, 1941, serial N0.375,421 y t conan/ns. (ci. 1x1-20s) vTtie present application is a continuation-inpart of my prior application Serial No. 330,504, led April 19, 1940.

This invention relates to devices for smokers pipes and has for-its principal object the` 'more or less complete elimination from the smoke of the tarry substancesr condensates which constitute the chief drawback-in the smoking of pipes. I- am aware that many attempts have hitherto been made to achieve this result but, to the best of my knowledge, this is the flrst invention in which the above Objectis substantially achieved. For the invention here disclosed not merely catches the tarry substances or condensates, but to a high degree disposes of them `by exposing them to the temperature of the burning tobacco; this causes destructive distillation or otherwise burns oif the said condensate, leaving behind a slowly accumulated carbon residue which does not interfere with the functioning of the device but, on the contrary, aids it. Another object of the invention is to aiord some protection to the pipe bowl from the heat of the burning tobacco. This object is of particular significance at the time of this application when the importation of the hard briar woods usually employed in smokers pipes is substantially cut oi and when more extensive use of domestic woods may be necessitated. By interposing a protective layer between the burning tobacco and the pipe bowl, destructive distillation of the wood of the pipe bowl is reduced, thereby making possible a wider choice of woods for this purpose.

In order to attain these objects and othersto be described, this invention provides a device for trapping condensible vapors in the bowl of a smokers pipe and exposing at least a substantial part of the condensate to the temperature of burning tobacco in the combustion region. The device comprises an absorbent, pervious aggregate, e. g. a layer, of heat resistant fine filaments, which aggregate is adapted to lie in the bowl of a pipe. In a preferred embodiment the said aggregate is made in the form of a sack adapted to lie in the bowl of the pipe and to hold the tobacco while it is smoked.

The expression heat resistant" as used throughout this specification means having the ability to withstand the temperature encoun-Ik tered in the bowl of the pipe due to the burning tobacco therein without undergoing any substantial physical or chemical change.

Another word frequently used in this specification and claims whose meaning should be clarified is absorbent. Materials which are ordinarily classed as absorbent owe this property mainly to their physical structure and not to the nature of the material perse. For example, consider a sheet of cellulose acetate. Such va sheet would not be classed as absorbent. and

.its actual absorptivity is very low. Nevertheless, when thismaterialis drawn into exceedingly l fine filaments, and when these filaments are divided form, that is, having a large surface per unit of mass, would be classed as absorbent toward any liquid which wets it.

Binding materials or cements for holding -laments together. are objectionable from the standpoint ofthis invention' because they reduce the absorptivity and perviousness of the aggregate and because they generally give unwanted tastes or odors when exposed to thel The extemperature of the burning tobacco. pression binder-free as used herein is defined to mean substantially vunadmixed with binding material.

Glass filaments are especially well adapted for the purpose of this invention. Glass is heat resistant in the sense herein defined and can be readily drawn into extremely ne filaments. It is of particular advantage for the specific embodiments herein shown that yarns made of such filaments can be woven or knitted vinto fabrics which arepervious and absorbent. Such fabrics are completely self-sustaining and require no binding materials. As an example of a specific embodiment, yarns which are very satisfactory for the present purposes may-be made by twistingf together approximately glass filaments, each of which has a diameter of the order of magnitude of" a few ten-thous-` andths of an inch; a number, e. g. six, of the resulting yarns may be plied or twisted together to form the final yarn of which the desired fabric may be made. In the making of these yarns a low twist is preferred because it is conducive l to a higher degree of absorptivity.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which: y

Fig. 1 is a cross-section of a pipe equipped with .a speciiic embodimentl of the new absorbing deceive and hold the tobacco. 'I'his bowl or sack- 1 like element I maybe woven or knitted, preferably knitted, of the glass yarns described above. For convenience in manufacture the knitting is tubular; that is, the fabric itself is knitted in the form of a continuous tube; when using sizes of glass'yarn mentioned above, the knitting is preferably double ply and rib stitch. This tube is closed at intervals by pinching it together by means of a wire or staple or other convenient means, the length of the intervals being selected so as to produce sack-like elements of appropriate length. After the pinchingtogether of the tubes at these intervals, they are cut apart and the sack-like elements are finally completed by iinishing off the open end. A tuft is left as indicated at 3. This tuft may be turned inside the sack, as shown in Fig. 1, or outside the sack.

It is preferable, but not absolutely essential, for the purpose of this invention that the bottom of the sack-like element be completely closed. A small opening may be left at the bottom. While this is not as effective as complete closure in trapping condensate and in preventing solid` particles from entering the stem of the pipe, I have found experimentally that it still gives very good results.

In order to iinish off the open end of the sack-like element, a rim 4 may be attached. This rim may carry a tubular skirt 5, as shown in Fig. 1. In the` form shown` in Fig. 2 the rim consists of an outer metallic part 6 and an inner metallic part 1 between which the fabric at the open end of the sack-like element is clamped Soft sheet brass or sheet steel may be employed for this purpose. In some cases it is preferable to design the rim so that it will frictionally en-` gage the bowl of the pipe, internally or externally. This may be done, for example, as shown in Fig. 3 by providing spring-like tongues 8 punched in a skirt 5.

In order to increase 'the capillary action of the absorbent material, e. g. sack-like elements described, it is advantageous to have a light deposit thereon of carbon particles. This end may be achieved, and simultaneously another end achieved by baking the completed sacks at a temperature of approximatelyAOO to 650 degrees Fahrenheit for, say, approximately 30 minutes. It will be understood that all yarns, including the glass yarns herein described, are generally treated with sizing material comprising ils, waxes, starch, etc., to secure better prope ies .for the I'various manufacturing operations.

These sizing materials in the finished absorbent sack-like elements are objectionable because they give a noticeable taste during the rst smokes. By the above baking operation, however, the oils, etc. are broken down, and in being broken down they leave the desired carbon residue. In this way the objectionablevinitial taste is eliminated, andan improved capillary action is obtained. A smoker's pipe equipped with one of these baked absorbent bowls smokes satisfactorily, without appreciable extraneous odors or tastes, from the very beginning.

The glass fabric herein described, like all ordinary fabrics, has the characteristic property of capillarity. By virtue of this property the tarry liquids which would otherwise tend to accumulate more at the bottom are to a considerable extent distributed over the surface of the sack and thus are exposed to the combustion temperatures `of the tobacco on subsequent smoking. In this way liquids trapped are to a the smoke stream rapidly accumulate in these iiltering devices; in addition to that, there is an accumulation of the moisture from the smokers breath and saliva; the filtering devices act as a meeting place for these liquids and after a relatively short period of smoking become befouledand give rise to objectionable odor and taste. Such filtering devices serve a useful purpose only for a very limited smoking period and thereafter defeat the purpose for which they were invented.A In the present invention, however, this accumulation of undesirable liquids is substantially avoided by virtue of the facts that these. liquids,'flrstly, are .trapped to a large extent in the combustion zone, secondly, excess accumulation at the bottom of the bowl travelsl by capillary action into the'zones of Vhigher temperatures, and thirdly, because in these high temperature zones the liquids are destroyed by the heat to which they are exposed and leave behind a slowly accumulating carbon residue, which, as mentioned earlier, helps rather than hinders the,operation'of the device. Excessive carbon deposits can be removed in the same way as they are removed from ordinary pipes.-

The glass fabric sack-like element acts as a protective covering which to a material extent shields the wood of the pipe from the heat of the burning tobacco. The advantage of this is that it reduces destructive distillation of the Wood of the pipe and thereby enlarges the choice of woods which may be used, as mentioned earlier in the specication.

The specific embodiments shown are merely illustrative.

vWhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A sack-like device adapted to lie in the bowl of a smoker's pipe and to contain the tobacco while it 'is smoked, said sack-like device comprising a binder-free absorbent layer of absorbent v yarns consisting each of a great number of ne ,filaments arranged so near to each other as to have a diffusing capillary effect adapted to constantial part of the same, therebyy exposing said i vey the condensates formed during smoking from one part of said absorbent fabric to another.

4. A device for smokers pipes comprising a pervious absorbent fabric sack-like element4 adapted to lie in the bowl of a pipe and to contain the tobacco while it is smoked, the fabric of said sack-like elementv consisting of absorbent yarns consisting each of heat resistant ne filaments arranged in each of said yarns so near' to each other as to have a diffusingcapillary effect.

5. A device for smokers pipes comprising a pervious absorbent knitted fabric sack-like element adapted to lie in the bowl of a pipe and to contain the tobacco While it is smoked, the fabric of said knitted sack-like element comprising absorbent yarns of heat resistant ne filaments arranged in each of said yarns so near to each other as to have a capillary effect adapted to diffuse.

the condensates formed during smoking -at the bottom of said knitted sack-like element over a substantial part of the same, thereby exposing said condensate to the heat of the burning tobacco in the combustion zone of the pipe bowl.

6. A device for smokers pipes comprising a pervious absorbent fabric sack-like element adapted to lie in the/ bowl of a pipe andto contain the tobacco while it is smoked, the fabric of said sack-like element consisting of absorbent yarns of fine glass filaments arrangedin each of said yarns so near to each other as to have a capillary eect adapted to diiuse the condensates formed during smoking at the bottomv of said absorbent fabric sack-like element over a subcondensate to the heat of the burning tobacco in the combustion' zone of the pipe bowl.

7. A device for smokers pipes comprising a pervious absorbent knitted fabric sack-like enlement adapted to lie in the bowl of a pipe and to contain the tobacco while it is smoked, the-fabric of said sack-like element comprising absorbent 9. A device for smokers' pipes adapted to lie in the bowl cfa pipe' and to contain the tobacco while it is smoked, said device including a knitted tubular fabric consisting of absorbent yarns of heat resistant fine filaments arranged in each of said yarns so near to each other as to have a capillary effect adapted to diffuse the condensates formed during smoking at the bottom ofthe pipe bowl into the combustion zone of the same, means for finishing off one end of said tubular fabric, and means for closing the other end of Said tubular fabric.

EZEKIEL J. JACOB. 

